Position: 59°54.36’N, 10°44.80’E

Despite living in Norway for many months aboard Dirona, we never reached Oslo. The farthest east we sailed was Farsund (where we were frozen in the ice for several weeks). We finally reached Norway’s capital as part of our trans-arctic trip across the top of the planet.

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Position: 78°11.53’N, 15°28.54’E

Longyearbyen has a real off-the-edge of civilization feel to it. The capital of Svalbard, a mountainous, remote and glacier-covered Norwegian archipelago situated halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, Longyearbyen sees constant daylight in the summer and complete darkness in the winter. Snowmobiles, the main form of transport for much of the year, litter the town during the few snow-free months.

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Position: 89°57.64’N, -179°6.84’W

We’re excited to back at the North Pole aboard Le Commandant Charcot, two years after first arriving. Both trips started in Svalbard, but instead of disembarking in Iceland as we did last time, we’ll continue breaking ice to the Magnetic North Pole and across the top of the planet to disembark in Nome, Alaska. What an adventure!

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Position: 47°37.31’N, -122°21.24’W

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend on stage at Climate Pledge arena for The Who‘s The Song is Over tour. Despite both musicians being in their 80s, they played and sang wonderfully and put on an excellent show. We had third-row seats and had a fabulous time.

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Position: 47°36.74’N, -122°20.86’W

A lot of fantastic new murals have appeared in our neighborhood this summer as part of the second annual Belltown Mural Festival. Seattle-based artist Mister Mural created this striking dinosaur mural as part of the festival.

Position: 47°36.69’N, -122°20.71’W

Enjoying a craft beer on a sunny fall afternoon at Cloudburst Brewing. It’s fresh-hop season in the Pacific Northwest, and Cloudburst’s constantly-rotating taps feature several excellent wet-hop hazy IPAs.

Position: 47°36.89’N, -122°21.40’W

A delicious seafood dinner with a view to Elliott Bay at Aqua on the waterfront. We were hoping to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather outside on their patio, but by October it is closed for the season.

Position: 47°35.47’N, -122°19.98’W

Attending our first Seattle Mariners baseball playoff game. The stadium is sold out on a Saturday night as the Mariners take on the Detroit Tigers for game 1 of the American League Division Series. We lost this game, but the Mariners went on to win the series 3-2 and are currently 1-0 against the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League Championship Series. Winning that will take them to the World Series.

Position: 47°35.70’N, -122°19.86’W

Seahawks legends Brandon Mebane, Mack Strong, John Harris, Michael Sinclair and Fredd Young hoist the 12th-man flag before the Seahawks take on the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. In American football, the 12th man represents the fans and Seattle has a particularly vocal group, known as the “12s”, who have set the Guinness World Record for loudest crowd noise at a sporting event on two occasions. Sadly, our cheering wasn’t enough to beat the Bucaneers, who won 38-35 in a closely contested match.

Position: 47°36.56’N, -122°20.36’W

Several parking lots are prohibiting Chevy Bolts after GM issued a widespread recall for the Bolt EVs due to the risk of battery fires.

Position: 47°36.91’N, -122°20.46’W

This fabulous astronaut mural was painted by Seattle-based artist B Line Dot as part of the 2025 Belltown Mural Festival.

Position: 47°36.95’N, -122°20.35’W

Several hundred protesters gathered outside the Amazon headquarters following a march from South Lake Union in support of Palestine.

Position: -33°32.05’S, 151°9.41’E

We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary and Jennifer’s 60th birthday in style with a crazy weekend trip to Peats Bite in Sydney, Australia. The restaurant, famous for its long, relaxed, multi-course gourmet lunches that sometimes extend well into the evening, has hosted many celebrities, including James’ doppelganger, Queen guitarist Brian May.

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Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.58’W

The ferry Wenatchee, closest to the camera, stopped in Elliott Bay while the crew rescues two people from an overturned kayak. The blue light right of the ferry is a Seattle Fire Department rescue boat securing the kayak.

Position: 45°25.16’N, -75°42.27’W

Ottawa, Canada has played a big part in our lives. James lived in Canada’s capital for much of his formative years, and we first shared an apartment together there in 1984 during a Co-Op student work term. When we lived in Toronto in the 1990s, we often visited for the Winterlude winter festival. But we’ve not returned for decades. We were drawn back recently to visit with Dr. David Parnas, our software engineering professor at the University of Victoria (UVic).

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Position: 47°36.84’N, -122°20.79’W

Another vibrant Belltown Mural Festival creation, this one by Carlos “theydrift” Aguilar, a Mexican/Chicano artist based in the Pacific Northwest.

Position: 47°36.82’N, -122°20.85’W

Lunch at our favorite Seattle wing spot, Vindicktive Wings. No matter what time we go, the place is always hopping.

Position: 47°35.70’N, -122°19.89’W

Shinedown drummer Barry Kerch playing with the Seattle Seahawks drum corps, Blue Thunder, before the Seahawks take on the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football. In an exciting game, Seattle won 27-19.

Position: 47°37.02’N, -122°20.78’W

A delicious Thai meal at new-to-us Ti22. The restaurant is creatively names after the periodic table element for titanium with symbol Ti and atomic number 22.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.58’W

Our apartment complex has mandated that owners replace their vented dryers with ventless ones. Here Ferguson Enterprises is removing our current Whirlpool washer/dryer.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.58’W

Ferguson Enterprises installing our new Miele washer and ventless dryer. The dryer works surprisingly well, but the washer unfortunately is defective so we’ll need to get it serviced or replaced.

Position: 47°36.88’N, -122°11.34’W

James taking a VO2 max test at Belmar Cardiopulmonary Diagnostics in Bellevue. We normally do the test on a treadmill, but Belmar was curious to compare our treadmill results with a bike. Our results came in slightly lower. We’re not yet sure which test method we prefer but many of the pros prefer the bike as a simpler and more repeatable test method since the tester can control watts directly using a single input

This is our second time testing at Belmar and we much prefer their service over what we were using, Dexafit in Seattle. The Belmar advantages are better quality medical grade equipment, just about identical to that used by the UofW diagnostic program, coupled with a super-knowledgeable staff including a medical doctor. It’s a remarkably good service.

Position: 47°37.03’N, -122°20.58’W

Enjoying an excellent Margarita at Maize Molino in the base of our apartment complex.

Position: 47°37.32’N, -122°21.24’W

The Seattle Kraken NHL team take to the ice through the new “Kraken Eye” theatrical display. This evening we took on the Edmonton Oilers, who appeared in the Stanley Cup last year, and weren’t expecting to win. But in an exciting and close-scoring match, we beat the Oilers 3-2. It was one of the best games we’ve attended in years.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.59’W

The USCGC Healy, the most capable icebreaker in the nation, returning to its home port of Seattle after a 4-month Arctic deployment. The Healy is a medium ice breaker and, ironically, is less capable in heavy ice than the French cruise ship, Le Commandant Charcot, that we took on a recent trans-Arctic cruise.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.59’W

The historic tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl departing Seattle to continue its one-year circumnavigation as part of the UN Decade on Ocean Science and Sustainable Development. The ship departed Bergen in April of this year and had planned to transit the Northwest Passage to reach Alaska, but predicted ice conditions would exceed the ship’s certification. Instead they diverted course from Greenland to pass through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles, Vancouver and Seattle. The ship now is en route to San Francisco and will pass back through the Panama Canal on its original route.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.58’W

The doors on our new stacked washer and dryer opened in opposite directions. Here Ferguson Enterprises is switching the dryer door so they both open to the left.

Position: 47°6.25’N, -119°48.12’W

Mt. Rainier extending above the clouds, viewed on James flight to Wichita, Kansas for a business trip.

Position: 47°36.69’N, -122°20.71’W

Catching up after James’ business trip to Wichita with fresh hop IPAs at Cloudburst Brewing in downtown Seattle. James came directly from the airport, and was dressed more formally than usual, so Jennifer dressed up too and we met here before dinner at El Gaucho.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.58’W

Meile investigating the issue with our new washer. It turned out a hose clamp was loose, resulting in a leak. The machine has a float that detects even small amounts of water in the bottom of the outer frame and gives an error code. Once the hose clamp was tightened up, everything is working perfectly now.

Position: 47°37.06’N, -122°20.31’W

We celebrated our combined 35th wedding anniversary and Jennifer’s 60th birthday mid-way between the two dates with lunch at Peats Bite in Australia. Here we are celebrating on the day of Jennifer’s birthday with dinner at one of our favorite Seattle restaurants, Butcher’s Table.

Position: 47°37.33’N, -122°21.23’W

A giant Kraken flag passing over us during a break in the game against the New York Rangers. In a close and exciting match, we lost 2-3 in overtime.

Position: 47°36.89’N, -122°21.25’W

Enjoying some unseasonably warm November weather on the patio at Here Today brewery near the Seattle waterfront.

Position: 47°36.86’N, -122°20.48’W

We caught Bugonia today at the SIFF downtown theater and really enjoyed the show. It was sad, funny, grisly, dramatic, silly, unsettling, and surprising. Generally, a really engaging movie.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.59’W

The USCGC Storis coming onto the dock at Pier 66 in Elliott Bay. The ship came on and off a couple of times, then idled out in the bay for a good hour. Perhaps the crew was training or doing sea trails.

The Coast Guard acquired the medium icebreaker, initially built as a support vessel for Alaskan offshore oil drilling, in late 2024 to replace the deactivated icebreaker USCGC Polar Sea. The Storis is being temporarily homeported in Seattle while dock facilities are being upgraded at its eventual homeport of Juneau, Alaska.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.59’W

Nordhavn 86 Serendipity returning to its home dock at Elliott Bay Marina. The vessel is available for crewed charter through NW Explorations.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.58’W

Jennifer cooking steak and Brussels sprouts for dinner while James is traveling. Our apartment complex prohibits propane barbecues, so we’ve been experimenting with different ways of grilling without one. The apartment does have a very nice Miele range (seen here) with a built-in gas grill, but it’s a hassle to clean. We’ve had good luck with a grill pan, but this time she tried a new recipe that involves pan-searing the steak in a non-stick skillet. The meat turned out wonderfully, perfectly browned on the outside and medium rare inside from edge to edge. This recipe definitely is a keeper.

Position: 39°9.37’N, -96°5.67’W

Flying over Jeffrey Energy Center as James returns from a business trip in Wichita, Kansas. The 2.4GW coal-fired plant began operation in the late 1970s and is the largest power plant by capacity in the state of Kansas.

Position: 47°18.06’N, -122°30.36’W

Point Ruston, near Tacoma, is an easy weekend getaway for us at only a 60- to 90-minute drive from our apartment. We really like the Water View Suites at the Silver Cloud Hotel, pictured, with their sweeping view to Commencement Bay and Point Ruston. Something of interest is always happening, either on the water or the pedestrian path beneath the window. The hotel also has a large and well-equipped gym for our morning workout, and several good restaurants are nearby. Other local diversions include the Ruston Way Waterwalk, the town of Ruston, the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, and Fort Nisqually.

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Position: 47°37.04’N, -122°20.63’W

Every six months, our apartment building has a “haul-a-day” where residents can bring down any sized items for recycling, donating or junking. We missed the last one, and have built up quite a lot in our storage room. This is some old patio furniture, a wheeled shopping cart that came with our unit, and our Bowflex power tower and exercise bench that we used in the apartment before we started using our building’s gym.

Position: 47°37.33’N, -122°21.25’W

The Seattle Kraken take to the ice through the new “Kraken Eye” theatrical display. The eye looks much better from the other side of the arena from where we first saw it. Tonight the Kraken played the Columbus Blue Jackets in a close match that we lost in overtime 2-1.

Position: 47°37.03’N, -122°20.69’W

Jennifer romping through the leaves on our way back home from the Kraken game.

Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.58’W

The water in our apartment building was shut off overnight on Monday for some emergency repairs, but something went wrong and several floors of the building flooded. Dozens of fans were brought in on Tuesday and, three days later, they still are in place to dry the carpet. We can hear the roar of the fans every time the elevator opens on those floors.

Position: 47°36.96’N, -122°20.42’W

James’ favorite text book Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach was just released in its seventh edition. Jennifer bought James the first edition as a birthday present way back in the early 1990s. He loved it and now has the latest edition and this one was signed and sent by the authors. What a wonderful present.

Position: 47°37.33’N, -122°21.22’W

Jennifer sporting her new powder blue Kraken hoodie under a giant Kraken flag being passed above us. In an exciting game, the Kraken beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1.

Position: 47°37.03’N, -122°20.58’W

We stopped in for a Margarita at Maiz Molino after the Kraken game and the place, normally quiet this time of night, was jam-packed and we were lucky to get a table. Maiz was holding a “Noches de Despecho Latino” (“Latin Nights of Heartbreak/Sorrow”) event where karaoke of love and heartbreak songs is a central theme. Many people had microphones and were enthusiastically belting out songs in Spanish. It was kind of fun to land in the middle of it all unexpectedly.

Position: 47°37.03’N, -122°20.56’W

The last section of the construction crane for the new building to our north will be coming down this weekend.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.58’W

The “fabulous” view from our apartment on a very foggy morning.

Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.58’W

Watching the Seattle Seahawks at the Los Angeles Rams in a game that decides the division leader. The Seahawks tried mightily to lose with four turn-overs, but manged to mostly recover. With the Rams leading 21-19, the game came down to a 61-yard Seahawks field goal attempt in the last few seconds of the game. Sadly, we didn’t make it and are now second in the NFC West. But lots of season still remains.

Position: 26°18.80’N, -80°4.60’W

We’ve taken several trips with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), and really enjoy the experience of The Haven, a ship-within-a-ship concept that NCL pioneered in 2005 and many other cruise lines have since duplicated. Haven guests have exclusive access to restaurants, bars, lounges and public spaces in the Haven area, and priority access to restaurants, shows and other attractions on the rest of the ship. It’s a way of making a mega-ship feel less busy and more intimate. Admittedly, these ships remain truly massive.

For our most recent cruise, we decided to try Celebrity Cruises instead. Celebrity also has a well-executed ship-within-a-ship concept, The Retreat, with similar amenities. In comparing the two, NCL bested Celebrity in several areas: the Celebrity Ascent has limited outdoor dining compared to the NCL ships, doesn’t have diversions such as water slides and go-kart racing, and the Retreat lounge and restaurant were rather uninspiring. But despite these drawbacks, we ended up preferring the Celebrity experience more.

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